Calcium alginate is incredible stuff. It has the ability to surround liquids with a springy membrane so they can hold a shape and be handled like solids. The process is called spherification, and gets a lot of use in upscale, molecular gastronomy-type restaurants. One start-up is even trying replace water bottles…

Jay Famiglietti, a senior water scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has a terrifying piece in the Los Angeles Timesabout the future of California's water. According to Famiglietti, the state has just one year of water in reserves: